The Route of the caravans

4 days 3 night tour

If you have time, try to do the sahara desert tours to erg chigaga in 4 days so you're not rush and packing everything/always on the road to the next destination. This southern morocco tour takes you to the atlas mountains saghro mountains a new region to hike for a couple of hours, draa valley and the sahara desert. Experience a flavour of the ancient trade routes from Sub Saharan Africa to the Mediterranean back to the history. Explore the natural scenery and varied landscapes.

Marrakesh – Ouarzazate – Dades Gorges

Day 1

Departure at 8 o’clock from your hotel in Marrakesh to cross the High Atlas Mountains. After the Tichka pass, the highest pass in the north of Africa, you reach Ouarzazate, the largest town in the area. Continuing through the Skoura Oasis, where numerous ancient kasbahs stand amongst the palm trees. From here, the route takes us through Kela’a M’Gouna, the Valley of Roses, with a stop to see locally-made perfumes, soaps and other natural cosmetics made from the valley’s abundant roses. At the end of day one will end in the Dades gorge in a guesthouse for the night.

Dades Gorges – Zagora

Day 2

After breakfast, we go south, through the Saghro mountain range to the village of N’Kob for lunch with a local Berber family. From here our route takes us to the Dra’a Valley, which we join at Tansikht and where we turn south to Zagora. The road follows the ancient caravan route between the Dra’a River and the mountains and gives a view of the gardens and kasbahs in the valley. In Zagora we stop for dinner and a night’s rest in a hotel/riad.

Zagora – Chigaga dunes

Day 3

The next morning we continue to Tamegroute, M’hamid and Erg Lehoudi, where you will discover an underground village and a pottery factory then, there is an opportunity for a camel ride of about one and a half hours. Lunch is in M’hamid itself after which we make our way across another 60km through the varying features of the desert; ‘erg’, ‘reg’, ‘hammada’, oases, to the Erg Chigaga dunes. This largest group of dunes of the region reaches a height of 300 m on a length of 40 km. Dinner and night in nomad tent or under the star filled sky with entertainment.

Chigaga dunes – Foum Zguid – Taznakht – Marrakech

Day 4

After breakfast in Erg Chigaga Bivouac , departure by 4×4 via the old Paris – Dakar race road to Foum Zguid crossing Iriqui lake, lunch break in the Berber village of Taznakht or Foum Zguid . We reach Marrakesh by the end of the afternoon.